Chad: Eighty-five percent?! That leaves me with nothing! That leaves me with fifteen percent non-voting stock!
Harrison: Actually, Chad, you don't even have fifteen percent anymore.
Eleanor: What are you talking about, Harrison?! My husband would never disinherit his firstborn son!
Harrison: Clause seven of the authentic will contains an immediate forfeiture covenant.
Chad: What forfeiture covenant?!
Harrison: 'If Chad Vance or Eleanor Vance should ever commit an act of physical violence or harassment against Lily Rose Vance, all remaining equity forfeits immediately to the victim.'[cite: 1]
Chad's jaw dropped open, his eyes bulging as if he had been struck across the face by an iron bar[cite: 1].
Chad: No... No! That's insane! That's an illegal clause under Texas probate statutes!
Harrison: It was reviewed and verified by Chief Judge Miller at nine o'clock this morning, Chad.
Eleanor: This is a coordinated conspiracy! Evelyn slept with my husband to steal our family fortune!
Evelyn: I was married to Arthur for eight years, Eleanor. You were divorced from him for twenty.
Eleanor: I was his first wife! I gave him his son! You were just a young secretary he felt sorry for!
Evelyn: I was the woman who sat beside his hospital bed every night while you and Chad were liquidating his offshore accounts.
Chad: We didn't liquidate anything! Those accounts were meant to cover corporate operating expenses!
Harrison: Those accounts contained fourteen million dollars that were transferred to an unlicensed casino in Macau, Chad.
Director Hayes: Good Lord... Fourteeen million dollars from our operating reserves?!
Director Miller: This is disgraceful! We were told the shortfall was caused by overseas supply chain delays!
Chad: Hayes, Miller, don't listen to this garbage! We are signing a multi-billion-dollar logistics merger tonight!
Evelyn: The merger with Sterling Logistics is happening, Chad. But you won't be in the boardroom.
Chad: What do you mean I won't be in the boardroom?! I am the chief executive officer!
The heavy front doors of the ballroom burst open with a booming crash that silenced the arguing executives.
Two emergency paramedics rushed inside carrying a pediatric trauma bag, followed by two armed Texas state troopers.
Paramedic Sarah: Where is the injured child?! We received a priority dispatch for severe glass lacerations[cite: 1]!
Evelyn: Over here, Sarah! Please examine her hands and her legs right away[cite: 1]!
Paramedic Sarah dropped to her knees beside Evelyn, gently unwrapping the bloody napkin from Lily's wrist[cite: 1].
Paramedic Sarah: Multiple deep lacerations across both forearms. Several glass shards are still embedded in the tissue[cite: 1].
Lily: It hurts, Mommy... Is the doctor going to use needles[cite: 1]?
Evelyn: No needles right now, sweetheart. Just medicine to make the burning stop[cite: 1].
Paramedic Sarah: We need to transport her to Texas Children's Hospital for surgical irrigation and stitches, ma'am.
Evelyn: I'm coming with her in the ambulance.
Trooper Jenkins: Ma'am, before you leave, who inflicted these injuries on this minor[cite: 1]?
Evelyn stood up slowly, her teal dress catching the glare of the flashlights as she pointed directly at Chad Vance[cite: 1].
Evelyn: That man standing by the broken table shoved her through the display case with both hands[cite: 1].
Chad: She's lying, Officer! The girl tripped on her own lace dress[cite: 1]!
Trooper Jenkins: We don't rely on verbal statements when there are three high-definition security domes mounted on this ballroom ceiling, sir.
Chad froze in place, his eyes darting frantically toward the gilded crown molding sixty feet above[cite: 1].
Three black glass camera domes pulsed with steady green recording lights, pointed directly at the shattered display case[cite: 1].